Hospital under siege: Israel raids Al Shifa Hospital over alleged Hamas leadership presence

Israeli military operations escalated in the Gaza Strip, focusing on Al Shifa Hospital, which Israel alleges is a Hamas command center. The Israeli army's claim prompted a shift from airstrikes to the siege of the hospital, employing tanks and surrounding it from all directions.

Around 12:30 AM on Wednesday, Israeli snipers began targeting anyone approaching the hospital's windows or doors, followed by the movement of military vehicles towards the facility.

Despite pleas from inside the hospital to halt the aggression and calls for help out of fear for the fate of thousands of displaced people, children, the sick, and the wounded, the Israeli army continued its advance, eventually storming the hospital early Wednesday.

During the raid, Israeli forces breached the western section of the complex, breaking down walls and entering various departments, initiating an extensive inspection of the largest medical facility in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Everyone in the hospital, including doctors, was subjected to interrogation in an attempt to determine if the hospital was indeed a Hamas command center.

Reports also indicated that Israeli soldiers stripped several young men and surrounded and assaulted others. Contrary to the army's claims of delivering milk, baby supplies, and medicines, officials from the compound denied such actions.

According to a military official, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the incursion into the hospital did not uncover armed individuals or Israeli prisoners.

However, Mark Regev, an advisor to Netanyahu, stated that weapons were found inside the medical complex.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the raid on Al Shifa Hospital was to confirm that "there is no place in Gaza we cannot reach," reiterating during his visit to a military base that the army will reach and eliminate Hamas, recovering hostages in the process.